Urban League ends conference with service projects around Baltimore

Volunteers kicked off Day of Service at Gilmor Homes, building a courtyard

“We didn’t want to bring a national conference here and not show the community what we came here for.”

The National Urban League ended its annual conference with a day of service in Baltimore on Saturday that kicked off at the Gilmor Homes, a starting point for protests that roiled the city last year after the death of Freddie Gray.

Volunteers busied themselves digging holes, planting trees and hauling dilapidated benches as they transformed a courtyard in the public housing development into a space where residents could gather.

The courtyard renovation was one of three projects chosen by the Greater Baltimore Urban League, which hosted the national conference with the theme “Save Our Cities” at the Baltimore Convention Center.

The conference drew leaders such as Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, running mate to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King.

“We didn’t want to bring a national conference here and not show the community what we came here for,” said J. Howard Henderson, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Urban League. “If you’re going to talk about it, be about it.”

The group also had projects planned at the Greenmount Recreation Center and the Waxter Senior Center. The sites offered health screenings, entertainment and food.

Commercial Construction was among the companies to donate services.

“Giving back is something that is normal for us, and this was certainly worthy of our attention,” said Marty Glaze, vice president of the company.

For Crystal Ward, one of 20 volunteers from CareFirst who helped with the Gilmor project, the day of service was about more than what happened last year. Ward used to visit her nephew, Darryl Smith Jr., at Gilmor Homes every weekend. The Edmondson High School graduate was shot and killed in March 2005 at the age of 19 while in his first year at Morgan State University.

“I know the loss of a young black man to the streets,” Ward said.

Linda Moyd, president of the Gilmor Homes community association, called the service project “a blessing” for the community. She said the project would perfectly complement a new community center, J. Howard Henderson which overlooks the courtyard.

“We’ve come a long way, and we have a long way to go,” Moyd said of her neighbors in the development. “But I know how proud they’re going to feel when they look out their window.”